Nashua man charged with making mom drive him to Mass. drug house

SALEM - A Nashua man faces multiple charges after allegedly attacking his mother, threatening her with a knife and forcing her to drive him first to a Lawrence, Mass., drug house then to the Walmart in Salem.

Salem police arrested Shaun Driscoll, 28, in the Walmart parking lot shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Saturday after a store employee summoned them to the scene.

The unidentified 67-year-old woman told police her son had held her inside her home since the previous day, threatened her with a knife and locked her in the bathroom for eight hours early Saturday morning before forcing her to drive him to an ATM to withdraw cash, then over the border to Lawrence to buy heroin.

After making his drug purchase, Driscoll allegedly ordered his mother to drive him to Walmart, telling her to stay by his side or else he would kill her with his knife, according to Salem Deputy Police Chief Shaun Patten.

Patten said the victim was able to make a quick getaway when Driscoll meandered into the gun section to check out the firearms displays, giving her just enough time to summon a store employee for help.

Attempting to flee the scene in his mother's car, Driscoll was apprehended by two Salem police officers in the upper parking area.

A search of the victim's vehicle revealed a bayonet knife.

Driscoll, whose bail for the Salem charges was set at $2,000, faces charges of criminal restraint, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and criminal threatening with a deadly weapon.

He was later turned over to the Nashua Police Department where more charges are pending.